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Goyal rejects Cong allegation of financial impropriety

New Delhi: Hitting back at the Congress over its allegation of financial impropriety against him, Union minister Piyush Goyal on Wednesday night said it was nothing but another episode of the party's "spit and run politics to divert attention from main issues relating to the common man.
In a statement issued by the BJP, Goyal asserted that there has been "absolutely no wrongdoing or irregularity" on his part as he gave out details of the transactions, being used by the Congress to target him.
The "malicious statement" by the Congress party is factually misleading and makes incorrect conclusions with false and defamatory statements and it is full of factual inaccuracies, mix up of dates and allude to events with no relevance his brief association with Shirdi Industries Ltd, he said.
Accusing Goyal of "impropriety and conflict of interest" due to his alleged links with private firm Shirdi Industries, Congress leaders, including Ghulam Nabi Azad and Veerappa Moily, on Wednesday demanded his immediate sacking and a probe by a sitting Supreme Court judge into the issue.
Goyal said the Congress has the habit of repeatedly indulging in malicious campaigns which are full of factual inaccuracies and it is running this "motivated propaganda" for cheap political mileage.
Facts state that he has followed the "highest standards of ethics" and that intercompany loans were taken on commercial terms and tax deducted and paid on interest regularly, he said.
It is an attempt by the Congress to drag the name of a senior BJP leader and Union minister into the NPA (non-performing assets) to divert public attention and shift the blame from its own misdeeds, he said.
Goyal said he was an investment banker and chartered accountant when he was associated with Shirdi Industries Ltd as a whole time director for a brief period from April 25, 2008 till September 30, 2009 and, thereafter served as non-executive chairman till July 1, 2010 when he resigned.
There was no fresh loan approved of Rs 258.62 crore as claimed by the Congress, he said, adding that it was only an enhancement of the existing loans from Rs 181.82 crore.
"It is important to note that I was neither a Member of Parliament nor the Director of State Bank of India (SBI) at the time of enhancement. Hence, there is no question of me influencing this loan enhancement," he said.
Goyal said the loan from Asis Industries to Intercon Advisors was not given in 2015-16 as alleged by the Congress but on September 24, 2012, a good two years after he left the company.
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